gmathis

Hooray for inexpensive bulk buys! This smells great dry and has huge leaves—all leafy and lawn clippingy. The tangerine is light and pleasant. Had my trial-run straight up, but I’m thinking I might actually toss in a little sugar to see if the citrus kicks up a little.

Another inexpensive bulk buy from favorite health food hangout. “Robust” and “astringent” in Frontier’s product description about gets it. It’s dry enough to make me lick my lips after each sip. A little milk may be in order.

Hard to get started this morning; so I treated myself to a morning cup of something really good. This is a yummy liquid illustration of “God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” Surely Paul had a cup of this in front of him when he was writing 1 Timothy!

(Actually, probably not … try as I might to verify it, I don’t think tea hit that part of the Mediterranean until much, much later.)

Wrote a longer review for www.itsallabouttheleaf.com, so I’ll keep this note succinct: bready, sweet, toasty, and superb.

My stash is getting old and I’m running out of almond pieces. Which, actually, may be the upside—no bitterness this morning; just slightly sweet.

Dry and golden and currant-y. As cold and soggy as it is in Missouri today (you could wring the air out like a wet towel), anything with a dry feel to it is welcome!

For some bizarre reason, I woke up craving this; stomach was a little unsettled and some of my strongest sensory “tea-makes-it-all-better-moments” involve good ol’ Lipton instead of the fancy stuff. It’s warm; it’s tea; it’s what I needed.

Since this will be reviewed later in detail for www.itsallabouttheleaf.com, I’ll try not to steal my own thunder, but this is really, really, really good!

When it comes to white teas, I’ve always felt like the little old lady (I’m dating myself … oh, well… too late…) in the Wendy’s commercial: “Where’s the TEA?” Either my tastebuds have been burned out by too much double-strength assam or my poor stressed brain just doesn’t have the sensory flavors to pick up tea that just hints at having a taste.

But this one is excellent … you don’t have to make a pretense of picking up flavor, it’s there. And it’s there in a yummy vanilla-white-chocolate sort of way. Maybe I need to save my next cup until I have a hollow white chocolate Easter bunny to gnaw on.

The more I drink this, the more I’m annoyed by the the tart hibiscus because, dry, it smells so lovely smooth and coconutty. So last night I tried to squelch it with a little Rooibos Orange Cream from Franklin Tea. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t “it.” Just enough left to try one more blending experiment. Anybody know a foolproof antidote for hibiscus?

Haven’t had this out for a while … and now I remember why. Artificial plastic fruit flavor. But it smells nice. Can’t decide if a tetch of sugar would help or just bring out the Robitussin qualitites.

Full review’s been posted: http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/1748/tea-review-drink-the-leaf-hong-tao-mao-feng-3/

…and now I am regretting the fact that I have no more to enjoy.

No notes yet.

The nice, light golden grassy-fruity personality of this one was triply nice this afternoon because I could drink it outside in the sunshine with no shoes on! Spring just makes some things taste better. Marshmallow peeps, for instance.

No notes yet.

Full review’s now up: http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/1712/tea-review-tea-forte-forte-breakfast/ Having had this in a small quantity, I’ve decided now I’d like it by the pound :)

Full review’s up: http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/1656/tea-review-teafrog-stress-reliever/

Had just a sample, so I can’t vouch for the long-term sedative effects, but it’s still a pleasant lemongrassy herbal.

This tea is phenomenal … steeps up a beautiful light beige and smells so nice you just want to keep your nose in the cup to soak up the honeysuckle fumes (I see that none of the other reviews make this scent comparison, but it was that sweet and floral). Flavor, on the other hand is mild and gently sweet. One teaspoon’s worth did three separate steeps without losing much character.

Purchased in bulk, this is nice and strong unadulterated peppermint leaf. Needed something to counteract the effect of a Death by Chocolate cupcake (mousse tucked into the cake topped with about 3 inches of buttercream). A good inexpensive cupboard basic.

Lighter, fruitier teas get shoved to the back of the cabinet during the coldest weather, but it’s time for the Monk to see the light of day again.

This tail-end of a pound is ancient…seriously, easily four years old…but the grenadine-vanilla bounce (can’t call it a kick…it’s sort of like dropping cotton balls on a table, it’s so gentle) is still there, even without doubling up on the leaf.

Oversteeped this one and the hibiscus was so tart it made my eyes water. However, drinking the rest of the cup with a sugar cube lodged under my tongue was actually kind of pleasant. Still very bright and citrusy (even though apricot isn’t a citrus, is it?).

Another one that smells so-o-o-o-o good dry and looks extremely bright and pretty—lots of loose yellow flower petals. Hibiscus hits you first again, but the coconut tones it down nicely. Great on a sodden, sullen rainy night.

No notes yet.

Enjoying this with red grapes the size of super-bounce balls…they complement each other nicely. I think Lochan is fast becoming one of my favorite purveyors of really good Darjeelings.

Wrote a more detailed review for future posting at www.itsallabouttheleaf.com, but my general observation is that this is more of a gift/novelty item than a tea for a serious oolong-o-phile. Getting more of plum blossom than plum fruity.